Pakistan's Seema Haider, who entered India to stay with man she met online, faces probe

Probe agencies in India and Pakistan are separately looking into the antecedents of Seema Haider, a 30-year-old Pakistani woman who illegally entered India with her four children to be with a man she met online.

In India, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in Uttar Pradesh — the northern state where Seema is staying with her lover — has interrogated the woman to find out how she crossed the borders, according to local media. The reports said Seema had relatives in the Pakistan army.

ATS officials also questioned Sachin Meena — the 22-year-old unmarried shopkeeping assistant who fell in love with Seema while playing an online shooting game — and his father, according to the Indian media.

Federal officials have sought a report from Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Uttar Pradesh Police on the Karachi resident, according to ANI news agency.

An official told ANI that authorities were verifying claims she made in TV interviews about her journey from Pakistan to India, and were also trying to find out who helped her in the process.

SSB is primarily responsible for guarding the borders of Nepal — from where Seema said she entered India — and Bhutan, according to the ANI report.

In Pakistan too, authorities have prepared a preliminary report on the mother of four, according to Geo News.

It mentioned that Seema tied the knot with her now-estranged husband, Ghulam Haider Jakharani, on February 15, 2014, after seeking permission from a Pakistani court. Her father works as a rickshaw driver and her brother is a government employee. She has two sisters.

Another media report said Pakistan’s intelligence agencies informed the government that love was the "only" factor in Seema's arrival in India.

“Pakistani woman Seema Haider left the country only to marry an Indian man (Sachin Meena) out of love as no other factor/motive has come to forth so far,” Urdu daily Jang reported, quoting a report of the Pakistani intelligence agencies.

The story of the couple from arch-rival nations has grabbed global headlines.

Seema met Sachin in the chatroom of an online game during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, according to the couple's media interviews. They fell for each other — and said they got married at a temple in Nepal this March. They spent a few days in Kathmandu before returning to their home countries.

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